According to an official at the UK-based Aegis trust, this real-world action came about in large part because the HP Alliance “made it possible to send almost 10,000 e-mails asking for the Council to speak out … Without your imaginative campaigns over 3/4 of these emails would never have been sent.”

The e-mails (which were signed by Potter fans here) “really made the difference – showing that it wasn’t just NGOs [non-governmental organizations] and members of the elite who care about Darfur – but people from all walks of life disgusted at the impunity for mass murder and eager to see action.”

The HPA says this is only in the beginning; the next step is a switchover pledge, a peaceful show of disapproval for the Chinese government’s practice of supplying money and weapons to the hostile forces in the Sudan. Signees promise to switch their television sets from the Olympic coverage during commercials, over to a broadcast of Mia Farrow reporting from a Darfurian refugee camp.